Now Commenting On:

Scherzer to miss KC start with ankle injury

Scherzer to miss KC start with ankle injury

KANSAS CITY -- The good news for Max Scherzer is that his right shoulder is fine. He threw off flat ground on Tuesday with no sign of trouble in his bothersome deltoid muscle.

The bad news is that his ankle is now a problem, enough that the Tigers are going to hold him out of pitching in Wednesday's regular-season finale.

It happened during the dog pile on the field after Jose Valverde's final pitch on Monday night to clinch the Tigers' second straight American League Central title.

"This is a slightly twisted ankle, swollen," manager Jim Leyland said before Tuesday's game with the Royals. "It doesn't appear to be serious, but it is obviously serious enough that he won't pitch tomorrow. That's the only thing I can tell you."

Leyland didn't see the injury happen, but he was told about it.

"When people were jumping on the pile, somehow, somebody stepped on his ankle," Leyland said.

Before that update, Leyland was hoping to not only let Scherzer start, despite the division title having already been secured, but have him pitch five innings as a final tuneup before an expected Division Series start.

The Tigers will give Luis Marte his first Major League start on Wednesday. Drew Smyly was originally expected to start in Scherzer's place if the game didn't have any playoff implications, but Leyland said on Tuesday that Smyly will only pitch an inning.

Others who could pitch Wednesday include Darin Downs, Brayan Villarreal and Luke Putkonen. Phil Coke will also be available to pitch, Leyland said.